


ashes, ashes, we all go on

by anstaar



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Friendship, Gen, Ghosts, Implied Past Child Abuse, Present Tense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-19
Updated: 2013-05-26
Packaged: 2017-12-12 06:50:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 5,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/808558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anstaar/pseuds/anstaar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dick falls</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. [0]

**Author's Note:**

> for the YJ-anon meme prompt: Dick died long before Young Justice but he is stuck between life and death. He knows that he will move on one day and wonders how he is going to tell his friends, I'm not quite sure how well this follows that prompt (set in season one)

Dick falls.  
  
&  
  
“He killed them,” Dick says. No one is listening. People are gathered around: talking, gesturing, faces grim. The noise of the ambulances are fading into the distance. “He killed them,” Dick repeats, louder. This time someone hears him.

Batman isn’t scary. Dick hadn’t thought he would be. Batman kneels beside him as he tells him everything he heard Zucco say. Batman believes him. Dick follows him to his car (the _bat_ car, he thinks). He can't stay at the circus. Zucco is out there. His family is gone. Batman doesn't say anything to him, but he leaves the door unlocked. 

&

Dick follows Batman (Bruce) out on patrols. Dick still wears the same clothes as he had…that night. He adds a mask, though, and floats through the shadows. Batman doesn’t talk much on patrol. Dick knows that they’re looking for Zucco. They haven't found him yet.  Dick doesn't mind too much. There are other crimes to stop along the way. He watches Batman’s back. He saves Batman’s life, calling out a warning when Penguin (more awake then they’d thought) shot a dart at his back. Bruce smiles at him. That smile drives back the cold.  
  
&  
  
The manor is nice. Well, Alfred is nice. His quiet words make the halls less empty. Bruce is. Well, Dick doesn’t know what word fits Bruce. Words are hard. They can twist all over the place and end up meaning anything. It's all how you put them together. People say: dead and gone, like they’re two different things. Dick thinks about that, after the nightmares. Bruce understands the nightmares, he lets Dick sit up in his study (curled under a blanket in the worn armchair with the fire raging but it's Bruce's voice which shoves back the creeping chill that Dick can feel in his limbs) when he can't bear the thought of sleep.

Dick doesn’t know a lot about Bruce. He thinks there shouldn't be any regrets. He doesn’t know how much longer he has. This is just a temporary home, until Zucco is caught. In the long empty afternoon, while Alfred is shopping and Bruce is at work, he goes exploring trying to learn more. That’s how he meets Bruce’s parents. He recognizes them immediately. He would've known them even without the picture in the study. Bruce’s father smiles sadly from the window alcove. Bruce’s mother is reading a book but she looks up and grins. Blood stains her dress.    
  
&  
  
They catch Zucco in April. Dick grabs him, Batman has his back. Zucco’s face goes white as he stares into Dick’s face. He doesn’t even struggle when they take him away. After, they sit watching the sun rise. Dick is happy. The weight that had dragged him down to Earth is gone. Dick has flown before. Bruce doesn’t look at him. Dick’s dead, he’s not gone. He still has things he has to do. He still has people to watch ('he needs you,' Thomas Wayne wispers in his ear, 'and you'll have fun,' Martha says with a kiss to his forehead). He takes Bruce’s hand. Together, they fly home.


	2. [1]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick follows

Dick follows.  
  
&  
  
The older boy glares up at him. Dick is hanging from the fire escape by his knees. Gotham nights always feel especially dark, they make Dick remember the night he wandered away from the lights of the circus tent and how, when he looked back, he realized how dark the world was outside their circle. His circle is smaller in Gotham. The lights from the mansion don't stretch down here. The bigger boy has already walked into three trash cans.  
  
Dick started following him half-an-hour ago. The boy has red hair. He also has a ridiculously yellow hat and a bow with a quiver of arrows. He doesn’t have a lot of situational awareness. He didn’t notice Dick until he swung down in front of him. Still, Dick can be very hard to see when he doesn’t want someone to notice him.  
  
&  
  
Dick doesn’t talk a lot. He used to. He thinks he did, anyway. Sometimes it can be hard to remember. Some memories are clearer now: the smell of the tent before the performances, the feel of his mother’s hand in his, the song his father hummed as he shaved. Roy is quiet, too, after he stops yelling. It’s sort of fun, trailing behind him on foot. It's been a long time since he's thought of the ground beneath his feet. Roy stands out against the night; he’s a reason to look forward.  
  
&   
  
Green Arrow had asked Batman to keep an eye out for his ward. He didn’t notice Robin lurking on a ledge. He isn’t the best person to teach someone how to recognize that they're being trailed. Bruce knew Dick was there. “He’s getting to that independent age,” Green Arrow says, “you know what that’s like, I’m sure." He gave Batman a knowing smile that was definitely not returned. "He thinks he can take whatever’s out there. He’d be upset to find out I’d followed him but it is your city…” He trails off, grinning conspiratorially.   
  
Dick knows Gotham. He’s not sure if it’s his city. He wasn’t born in its streets. He wasn’t born in any city. There's a small town halfway around the country where an old woman lives whose been delivering babies for twenty-seven years. A life time separates him from the place of his birth. In a way, though, he was born on Gotham' land. Gotham is Robin’s city. Robin loves the city with a convert's passion. Roy doesn’t like Gotham. He wasn’t born in a city either. Robin doesn’t think that Gotham is very good for archers.  
  
&  
  
They get coffee together, after Roy tracks down his prey. He wrinkles his nose as Dick methodically pours sugar after sugar into his cup but he doesn’t say anything. Dick used to try to steal a sip from his cousin’s cup. Johnny would tease him: warn him that it would stunt his growth as if Dick didn’t want to remain small. Roy is a lot taller than Dick (he's a lot taller than Johnny but in another year he'll be older and it won't matter anymore). The Gotham night is turning into the Gotham day, ugly and gray and despondent. Here, in an all-night eatery filled with tired souls, no one spares a glance for the two costumed children. Tired eyes pass over the blood on Roy's knuckles and the thinness of Dick's face. Roy hasn’t slept but his eyes take in everything. He isn’t someone who lets things go. Dick needs that.


	3. [2]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick smiles.

Dick smiles.  
  
&  
  
Wally doesn’t believe in ghosts. He doesn’t believe in magic. Dick slouches on Wally's bed, easily beating all of Wally's high scores, as he talks. It’s fun watching Wally rant. His ears turn red and he paces back and forth waving his arms. “Magic is just science we don’t understand yet,” he announces, with all of his thirteen year old authority. He has a lot of answers.   
  
Dick just smiles. There are a lot of things people don’t understand. Maybe magic is just science they can't explain. Maybe science is just magic they could explain. It doesn’t really matter. An echo of strong emotion etched onto the fabric of reality probably shouldn’t be able to constantly win at Mario Kart. On the other hand, Wally still hasn’t figured out he’s hitting the buttons too fast for them to react properly.  
  
&  
  
Dick likes Wally’s house. His father brings up snacks for them (Wally doesn't remember yet how often he now gets hungry). His mother shoos them out into the fresh air (she thinks Dick’s sick, she remembers (unconsciously, a memory buried deep in her childhood) sitting beside her grandmother’s bedside as the woman slipped away. From the corner of the eye it looks like the boy isn’t breathing). In the beginning, Dick was careful to be polite. Now he jumps up to grab plates for dinner, narrowly avoiding Wally in his dash for cups. They’ve accepted him. The feeling burns but he’s still so cold.  
  
&   
  
On Wally’s fifteenth birthday, Dick tells him his real name. They hang around in the kitchen of the manor. Alfred is away on a brief holiday. Bruce is somewhere in California at a conference. Officially, neither of them knows what Dick’s doing. Unofficially, Bruce gave him a long suffering look and Alfred left enough cookies to satisfy even a speedster’s stomach.    
  
Dick perches on the counter, munching on sugar cubes, while Wally eats his cookies. Alfred hates the cubes but they're sweet enough to leave a trace of taste in Dick’s mouth. For that, Alfred always makes sure they have an ample supply. There are different ways to say, I love you. Wally is joking about old money. His jacket is slung over the back of a chair. His goggles threaten to fall off his head as he munches enthusiastically. His shoes are hung over the radiator, drying out after his accidental detour through the swamp. The kitchen blazes with life.  
  
&  
  
Wally looks him up. Dick knew he would. The next time they meet, Wally shifts uncomfortably. They’ve been friends for a long time. Dick knows what he’s thinking: what do you say when you suddenly realize your friend’s parents are dead. Dick doesn’t say anything and they fall back into their usual routine. When it’s time for him to leave, Wally wraps an arm around his shoulders. Dick doesn’t touch people very often, now. He thinks he used to. He can barely feel the arm. He grips Wally’s wrist in return and smiles and waves him away. This was the easier explanation (what do you say when you suddenly realize your friend is dead, Bruce had told him money could buy almost anything, including a new life, he figures the semblence of one is good enough). Dick never says goodbye.


	4. [3]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick listens.

Dick listens.  
  
&  
  
“I dream of the sea,” Kaldur tells him. He is floating by the edge of the pool. Only his head and the tips of his fingers remain out of the water, anchoring him. Dick crouches next to him, letting the cool water run through his hands. It’s very early or maybe very late. This room of the cave smells like the ocean. Kaldur looks at peace. He’s relaxed the formal posture he always maintains on land. His fins sway gently. He is truly at home.  
  
Dick doesn’t dream of the sea. He dreams of the sky. Kaldur moves with the water. Dick soars in the air. Kaldur has never really flown. Dick has never dived deep into the water. He doesn’t know what swims in the depths. “It’s beautiful,” Kaldur says. “The land has its beauty too, but it is not the same. The air separates. In the water, everything is...connected.” He pauses, thinking, “I’m not sure if that is the right word, but I think that it is close enough.” Kaldur’s smile is beautiful. Dick wonders if he reflects the sea.  
  
&  
  
Dick isn’t that good at following orders. Dick isn’t that good at dealing with people. Batman and Robin don’t need to talk. Listening is difficult. Dick can’t always anchor himself to the present. Besides, if he knows what to do what’s the point of hanging around waiting for people to talk? Plus, it’s not even like he’s the worst on the team at listening to Kaldur. He’s found, though, that he sort of likes how Kaldur will explain everything later, when asked. There's a difference between knowing something and being told.  
  
&  
  
Aunt Harriet said they were growing up wild. She never said it when she thought Dick or Johnny were around. She was a good aunt and she loved them but she didn’t understand their life. Dick had always thought that was funny. As far as he could see they were growing up far better behaved than the townie children who taunted the animals and didn’t respect the performers’ skills.  
  
Dick isn’t growing up anymore. He’s pretty sure Aunt Harriet wouldn’t approve of his new lifestyle but neither of them is alive to care. He’s definitely sure that his parents would just be glad he still has people looking out for him wherever he goes. He holds that thought tight. Kaldur wants to protect him. He thinks that Dick has a wonderful future ahead of him.  
  
&  
  
They’re doing a training exercise. Robin floats along in Kaldur’s shadow. He is definitely going to tease Bruce about his obsession with Capture the Flag. Seriously, he can’t even count how many times he’s played a variation of this game. He wonders how long Bruce has been waiting to spring this three-sided-and-in-a-maze version. Considering how Black Canary had rolled her eyes when he’d made his ‘suggestion,’ Dick had to wonder if Bruce made the Justice League play too. Dick’s not paying enough attention to his surroundings (but really, he just can’t shake the mental image), he jumps when Kaldur’s water whip knocks away a tranquilizer dart. Kaldur shakes his head but he gives Dick a small smile. Dick wishes he could think that a life and a future had been saved, too.


	5. [4]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick watches.

Dick watches.  
  
&  
  
Superboy sees ghosts. Maybe it’s some sort of genetic ability. Superman always knows when Robin is there. It’s actually kind of annoying. Especially since Bruce always smirks about it just because  _he_  can sneak up on Superman. Dick has been trying to get Clark to admit he’s just been faking surprise to make Bruce feel better. He just ruffles Robin's hair. Superboy probably isn’t the best person to commiserate with about that.   
  
Dick can’t find anything to say to Superboy. Well, that isn’t exactly true. He knows lots of things to say. It's just that none of them matter. There’s emptiness to words he never noticed with his family. Maybe he’s just experienced more things (he can never say, lived more) since then. Maybe it’s everything else that's changed. Dick teases and jokes and explains and lectures. He communicates. He can’t say the most important words. He can’t answer those questions Superboy doesn’t know how to ask.  
  
&  
  
Dick doesn’t know if Superboy understands death. He’s about sixteen physically (as far as they can tell considering they only have one other example of a teen Kryptonian), has several sets of encyclopedias crammed inside his brain and has all the emotional control of, well, of a force grown clone who had just been let out of a glass tube where he had spent all his time during the few months he’d been alive. Bruce would say that could make him dangerous. Dick thinks it makes him sad. The anger is a bit more obvious.   
  
&  
  
The TV is on. Superboy watches TV with a rather worrying intensity. Plus, he watches really bad shows. Like, reality TV would be several steps up level bad. Dick loves them. He sits on the back of the couch with a bowl of popcorn (smothered in butter and salt and pepper and sugar and syrup and Megan is the only other person who can stomach his recipe) and splits his attention between the screen and Superboy.  
  
Dick likes people watching. In more exacting terms, as Auntie had put it, he liked watching people for just the right moment to jump out and startle them. As much fun as it was to watch an eight year old's attempt at a horror movie filmed on a hand held camera (and it was very, very fun) there was something about Superboy. Like, he doesn't seem to notice when Dick stares at the back of his neck. He doesn’t know how it works for other people but when Dick stares at someone they always know. It makes him wonder how different is different is alien. Then Superboy turns to glare at him and things are all right.  
  
&   
  
None of them expected to be spending their Sunday morning walking around a zoo. Dick has a hard time believing it’s really the headquarters for an evil cult. In his experience, evil cults tend to take themselves far too seriously. And they avoided topiary animals. It’s hot. Dick doesn’t exactly burn but the sun leached energy from him and left him tired and aching. He can stay up night after night without the slightest yawn but an hour in the sun left him collapsed on his bed. Another reason this place is _dis_ credible as a cultist lair, no one who wears a heavy black robes is going to hang around somewhere they’d sweat so much. Cloth drops down over his eyes. “Forgot your hat,” Superboy mutters. Dick doesn’t want anything to change.


	6. [5]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick touches.

Dick touches.  
  
&  
  
On the ninth day after their first mission together, Megan says, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t sure if I should mention it but, it's just that you’re the solidest manifestation I’ve seen on earth and I -” Dick freezes. It's only the unconscious clutching of his fingers that stops the glass from falling from his fingers. Megan immediately looks panicky. “Hello, Megan, you obviously don’t want to talk about it. I’m so, so sorry. Things are different on Mars and here no one seems to talk about - well they did on this one show but then there was this giant marshmallow and they didn’t seem very happy and Kaldur said a lot late night movies aren’t very accurate and –”  
  
Dick manages to halt the flow of words by grabbing one of her flailing hands. He almost drops it again in shock. He’s holding a hand. Of course his is, he’s holding  _her_  hand but this time, for the first time in years, he can feel a hand in his. He had forgotten what it felt like, the sensation of flesh on flesh. Megan smiles at him, gently. Her frantic apologies gone, she’s calm again. “There’s a component of psychic manifestation,” she explains. “Our ‘shape-shifting’ isn’t just a physical change. I  _feel_  human, that’s why I don’t seem ‘alien’ to your senses.” Her smile grows more self-conscious, “that’s also why I can’t manage to shift into a boy yet, bodies are easy but a little mistake in perception throws the whole thing off.” Dick can’t say a word.  
  
&  
  
Dick considers her explanation, on the parallel bars. He suspects Megan was toning down the facts for an alien brain which will never experience reality the way she did. What was a self when everyone could see each other’s mind? His mind plays old sci-fi movies (probably the same ones Kaldur and Megan watched together late at night), none of which fits right. He wouldn't admit it but the idea scares him. How could you really hold on to what  _you_  were that close to everyone else? After going on missions, they’ve gotten used to the mind link. At the same time, he can’t quite conceptualize a world where having a mind link isn’t a unique experience.    
  
&  
  
Megan doesn’t bring up the topic again. She doesn’t tell anyone else, either. She seems completely satisfied with the abrupt and fracture explanation that was all Dick was able to give her. She shares freely. When he asks, she tells him of the spirits of Mars: the great souls whose mortal passing merely gave them a chance to walk truly free; the battle fields wandered by the remnants of shatter souls; the warmth of standing in the psychic shadow of a long dead foremother. Late at night she shares old legends and tales from her childhood. The images dance across the cave wall.   
  
Dick finds himself taking more opportunities to stay near her. He shares stories of his own. He dredges up bedtime stories. He dramatizes childhood adventures. He shows her the video he made of all the times Wally has smashed into walls while on camera. He tells her of the ghosts he had met (not all of them, some stories aren’t his to tell, but enough). The stories are offerings, paltry attempts to return even a fraction of the gift she gave him. Somewhere, he is not unusual.   
  
&  
  
Dick notices that Megan treats him differently now. In the kitchen she bumps her shoulder into his as she walks by. In training she practices her usually more neglected hand to hand with him. She stands a bit closer to him as they wait to receive their orders. She links his arm with hers when she’s found something she wants to show the team. Dick thanks her with a hand on her shoulder and tries not to remember that it’s all in their minds.


	7. [6]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick fights.

Dick fights.

&

“We have to stick together,” Artemis says, smirking, as she lands on the ledge next to him, “after all, who knows what could be lurking up here in the dark.” Dick grins at her. They’re three-quarters through the twisting halls of the tower, moving slowly. It’s just the two of them. Superboy punched through the door eight feet below and he and Kaldur are fighting back to back in the courtyard. It is a pretty good distraction. Dick had preferred Megan’s fireworks suggestion but Black Canary had just given them a little talk about their apparent over use of explosives.

Dick finds Artemis fascinating. He doubts she would appreciate the thought. He likes her. He’s not sure how she feels about that. In some matters they work in much the same way. Despite her aggression and passionate nature, Artemis knows how to watch. On stealthy missions they work well together fading back out of view. Dick is well aware that she’s keeping a lot of secrets. He’s the last person that could say that should impact trust.   
  
&

Dick looks like a child. Well, thirteen years’ experience makes him a child, officially, but he knows he doesn’t even look that old. He wouldn’t exactly say he’s aged since he left the circus but he’s changed. Sometimes, he doesn’t know whose looking out of the mirror at him. He’s grown thin and pale. He doesn’t think that it’s possible for him to have grown taller but the stretch of the shadows has left him slightly indistinct. When they spar, Artemis doesn’t hesitate.

&

Artemis is bleeding. She doesn’t ignore the wound. That’s how Dick knows she’s been doing this for a long time. Discounting injuries is a rookie mistake. You might not stop, you might not even falter but you’re aware because if you’re not it’ll come back to bite you. The cut isn’t bad. As they wait while he hacks the cameras she wraps her arm and efficiently cleans up the blood. There will be no trace of their passage. Dick doesn’t say a word.

Dick never doubts that his family loves him. All his family: from the circus to the silent ghosts. He learned how to take care of himself because no one wanted to see him hurt. He’s seen a lot of other families, both then and now. He knows there are a lot of different ways to learn how to deal with hurts. Pushed against the wall, Artemis fights aggressively. Dick is halfway up the wall (Artemis has surprising upper body strength, he isn’t the heaviest of people but that was an impressive throw). She’s preserving as much strength as she can. She’s prepared to hold out for as long as they might need. She doesn’t look back for his support. Dick tosses a smoke bomb at the back of the crowd and lands with a satisfying thud on the head of one of the creatures. They fight together.

&

The back of Artemis’ left hand is covered with a network of almost invisible scars. All her fingers are heavily calloused. Her hair hangs down around her shoulders. Her face is focused on the book in front of her. She is very pretty. They’re doing homework together at the kitchen table and Dick should be focused on his word problems (considering Poison Ivy’s average speed on a bicycle (calculated last problem) and your knowledge of the normal traffic in Gotham, what is the most likely route for her to take to arrive at Mister X’s house and where is the best place to intercept her) but he can’t concentrate. It’s a moment of seeming normality for two children who have never been normal. Then Artemis kicks his leg and tells him to stop staring like a creeper and he teases her back and the world settles down around them. For them, being encircled in lies is normal.


	8. [7]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick understands.

Dick understands.

&

Zatanna is crying. Her blanket is wrapped around her shoulders and her face is buried in her pillow. Her shoulders are shaking. Dick doesn’t know what to do. Bruce never cries. His father would rub his back. His mother always made a warm drink. His parents are gone. So are hers. He realizes (standing in the doorway, summoned by her muffled sobs, wondering if he should fetch someone) that no one else in the Cave has gone through that.

Dick sits on the bed next to Zatanna. She doesn’t tell him to go away. A part of him, the part he pretends doesn’t exist, the part which has grown more and more through the years, had hoped that she would. It’s hard to care. It would be so easy to let go: let the tendrils of thought/emotion that tie him to the earth. It would be so easy to leave everything behind. He stays with Zatanna that night. They don’t speak, no words are needed. He doesn’t know what thoughts come to her in their long vigil.

&

Dick is dead but he’s not gone. Zatara is gone but not dead. Someday, Zatara could come back. Zatanna smiles her thanks at him, eyes red, over breakfast. Her hands are trembling. He hopes he looks comforting; it’s all he can do. Dick is dead but can’t come back. The ghosts of Bruce’s parents are shades. They’re tied to a room, faint and almost wordless. Here’s the thing: they weren’t always. This is the only future left to him: a shadow of a presence. He will exist in the memory and imagination of his beholders than in any sort of reality. “I know how it feels,” Dick whispered after Zatanna fell into an exhausted sleep. He’s not sure that he does.

&

Zatanna laughs. She’s stretches out on the grass. Dick has been attempting to teach her how to do a proper double cartwheel. Their failures make them laugh and the laughter impedes their success. The grass is cold and slightly damp (mid-November makes the dew seem to last all day long) but she doesn’t try to get up. He flops down beside her. The sky is overcast. They compete to see who can find the most ridiculous cloud shapes. She wins with the help of a conjured breeze that makes a magnificent cloud-bank form into Red Tornado playing in an ice cream sundae.

Dick savors every minute. He lets Zatanna’s story wash over him (cross continent road trip of Europe and he makes a mental note of all the countries they’ve both visited). Occasionally, he adds a comment about his experience with European circus tours. He’s at peace. For now, they have nothing to do. He has his code. He will not abandon his friends. Even if that means he has to go.

&

“Retaw otni ece,” Zatanna shouts and Robin slides expertly under the guards now flailing arms. He does a little pirouette and kicks another lunging man in the knee. He goes down hard. Dick is well aware that he’s movement are showier than usual. Zatanna brings it out in him. They both understand what it is to perform. She’s the ringmaster: arms dramatically raised (nothing up her sleeves); clear ringing voice. He whirls around her a devil of destruction. He laughs (wild, young and echoing in the now icy cavern) as his opponents fall. Dick Grayson will not fade away, but he’s not leaving yet.


	9. [8]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick leaves.

Dick leaves.

&

After everything settles down, Megan gives Rocket a tour of the base. The cave is mostly empty. Artemis ended up heading out with Wally to ‘see for herself’ the West family All-Day January 1st party. Though, considering how intensely they were making out, it’s hard to tell how she would be able to see anything. Conner had muttered that Superman wanted to introduce him to some people as he had wandered off at high speeds. Kaldur had been talking quietly with Roy who had been unusually quiet. Zatanna had claimed she was enjoying the Watch Tower. Megan had decided that meant it was a perfect time to show the newest team member around.

Dick follows behind. The halls feel stark and cold. The rooms echo unpleasantly. The normally pleasant smell of the pool has a hint of rotting fish. Megan’s laughter is bright in the stillness and Raquel laughs too. The noise sounds muffled in his ears. Megan gives him a brief glance (careful, she knows his choice). Raquel can’t see him. 

&

Dick says his last goodbyes, a hand lightly trailing against the wall. This is a good place to leave (Dick tried to apologize to Bruce but his partner wouldn’t let him, he just wrapped them in his cloak for a moment before he stepped away). His teammates, tired but triumphant, talk with their mentors before they gathered together to ring in the New Year. They stood together, thinking of the future. Dick sees time stretching out in front of them. His path is gone. 

&

There are a lot of important things Dick wants to tell Rocket. Like, Megan is awful at cookies but she makes a mean cupcake _and_ she makes her own frosting. Beating Wally at video games is hilarious but his victory dance can be just as good. Conner gets really emotionally involved in Hallmark movies especially if they’re about father-son relationships even after they had their little talk about contemporary Christian rock driving a person to violence. Kaldur does deadpan like no one else, there are few things as funny as watching B-movies with him. Artemis cheats horribly at card games and just laughs when she's accused. Zatanna likes to practice her headstands in the kitchen, it’s totally usually to look up from a sleep stupor and just see ten wriggling toes.

Dick knows a lot of important things. Like, Megan will fight for her friends but she’s just as willing to sit next to them. Wally will always keep your secrets but they’ll never stop him from joking with you. Conner might not be very good at cheering someone up but he’ll always try. Kaldur’s the best team leader they could ever have. Artemis will sit next to her friends even if she finds it far easier to fight for them. Zatanna understands people and she won’t use her knowledge to hurt someone. Dick writes: being a sidekick is totally awesome. He thinks Rocket will understand. 

&

This isn’t an end. The team is happy. The team is together. There are a lot of stories in their futures. Roy has his identity issues. Wally has a relationship to figure out. Kaldur has two worlds in front of him. Connor still hasn’t quite gotten family. Megan has a past and great future. Artemis has to get to the bottom of a lot of truths. Zatanna knows who she wants to be. Raquel can take on the world. In another life, Dick could live. In this one, he leaves.


	10. [Beyond]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick dies.

Dick dies. 

&

Everyone dies. Jason Todd knows that as well as anyone. He watched his mother die inch by inch and his father go much faster. Life on the streets of Gotham offers plenty more opportunities to see death up close. Jason Todd refuses to believe they’re the lucky ones. He’s a fighter and he clings to his ragged life tighter than he’s held on to anything in his life.

Jason knows about the Bat, he’s seen Robin. He was hiding on some roof tops, avoiding a gang of bigger boys that had come knocking round his temporary home. He should have been looking at the streets. That was how you stayed whole, always watch the streets. Jason wanted to live and he watched the sky. Robin fell from a tower, no he leapt. He swung on lines invisible to Jason’s eyes. Then he disappeared. 

&

Jason is determined to make his own destiny. He knows how to steal. He knows how to fight when the only goal is to get away. He knows that winter is coming. There are official places he could go; there isn’t a place where he’s sure to be safe. When it comes down to the dirty slush of a Gotham winter, Jason figures he can take care of himself. There are other options to explore first.

&

The gang leader, or at least the toughest boy in this gang, doesn’t seem too smart to Jason. It’s not a real gang. He’s seen enough of those to steer clear. Flash goods might bring in big money but they carry big risks (his dad, blood bubbling up). Jason doesn’t deal with drug dealers (so many years of his mom pulling away). Besides, he doesn’t plan on tangling with the cops if he can avoid it. This guy though, most of his stuff is just petty vandalism. It’s stupid and pointless but it gets Jason some place warm to sleep at night.

Jason strikes off on his own again when the stupid kid decides he’s ready for the big time. Jason isn't so worried about the weather. He has a new coat and some connections that might come in handy if he gets something he can sell. He carries no regrets. It’s colder huddling on fire escapes but he likes to see the stars. 

&

The car is practically begging to be stripped. It’s nice, really nice, and parked in a back alley. Jason figures that the owner is pretty lucky that only he came along. He just wants the tires. He’s halfway through taking the second one off when he looks up into the Bat’s face. He jumps back, clutching his tire iron. The man (and it is a man, not a demon or spirit or anything else people whisper when they want to tell a story) glares at him. Jason’s a fighter. There’s nowhere to run so he puts his hands on his hips, glares back and demands to know what kind of idiot parks an expensive car in a back alley in this part of Gotham. They stand regarding each in silence for the longest minute of Jason’s life. Then, Batman laughs. And, echoing from the shadows, Robin laughs too.


End file.
